The present invention relates to the extraction of scale, corrosion, paraffin, asphaltene and other types of contaminant deposits that form within conduits and on the surfaces of equipment utilized in the transmission of fluid columns. The instant invention further relates to the separation of contaminants and other pollutants from fluid columns transferred in such conduits.
It is common for contaminant deposits to accumulate within conduits and on equipment utilized in the transportation and transmission of fluids. In oilfield pipelines, for example, a mixture of oil, water and minerals flow out of a well and into equipment used to separate the marketable oil from water and other components of the fluid column. Paraffin, asphaltene and mineral scale deposits forming within conduits used to transport this fluid mixture restrict flow within the pipeline. Such deposits and the congestion they create typically lead to the deterioration of pumps, valves, meters and other equipment utilized to propel and monitor the flow of fluid through the pipeline system. These types of deposits typically result in lost production and substantial expenditures for thermal, mechanical or chemical remediation to achieve full flow within the pipeline.
Many thermal exchange systems, such as cooling towers or boilers, utilize water as a heat transfer medium. Mineral scale and corrosion deposits restrict the flow of water and clog the orifices of pumps, valves and other equipment. Further, deposits within piping systems and on thermal exchange grids tend to act as a layer of insulation and inhibit the transfer of heat carried by the water. Periodic descaling of heat exchange equipment typically results in process downtime and substantial labor and remediation expenditures. Therefore, contaminant deposits result in restricted flow, lost efficiency and increased energy consumption in thermal exchange systems.
In closed-loop systems where water is continuously circulated to facilitate heat transfer from one area of a system to another, one common method of removing corrosion, scale deposits and controlling algae and bacterial growth utilizes chemical treatment of the water. Over time, the build-up of chemicals, minerals and other contaminants results in the chemically treated water being unfit for continued use. Chemical laden water typically requires additional treatment to make it suitable for discharge into a wastewater disposal system or release into the environment. Chemical treatment of fluid columns is costly, requires the storage, handling and dispensing of dangerous chemicals and increasingly gives rise to growing environmental concerns directed to the quality of the water being discharged.
The effectiveness of these prior art methods is marginal and generally unsatisfactory. One alternative has been the utilization of magnetic treatment wherein magnetic flux is introduced to a contaminated fluid column. Magnetic field generators are commonly divided into two groups, permanent magnets and electromagnets. Each group produces magnetic energy that may be utilized to treat fluid columns. The density of the magnetic flux available in the fluid treatment area, which is typically the interior of a conduit through which contaminated fluids flow, may be measured and expressed in Gauss Oersted units. Commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cgaussxe2x80x9d, this unit of measurement is useful in the comparison of devices used in magnetic fluid treatment. While the use of magnetic flux has proven to provide positive benefits in the treatment of certain fluid columns, prior art magnetic field generators are challenged by a number of deficiencies.
Permanent magnets typically generate magnetic flux via an array of rare earth magnets proximate the flow path of a fluid through a section of conduit. Because the strength of the magnetic field cannot be adjusted, the flow rate of a fluid as it passes through the fixed strength of the magnetic field generated by a permanent magnet is a primary factor in determining the effectiveness of the treatment provided by such units.
Desired treatment of a contaminated fluid column may occur when the flow rate of a fluid is matched to a specific sized array of fixed magnets with a nonadjustable magnetic field strength. However, when the velocity of a feedstock varies from the required flow rate through a specific permanent magnet configuration, desired treatment of the fluid column may not occur. Therefore, when the velocity of a fluid deviates from the rigid parameters of a specific flow rate through specific sized conduit having a ratio of conduit size to the length of a fixed magnetic field strength required to provide the conduction coefficients necessary for effective treatment, use of permanent magnets may result in lost efficiency, or a total lack of magnetic treatment.
Electromagnets may be formed by electrically charging a length of an electrical conducting material, such as a length of metal wire, to create an electromagnetic field that radiates from the circumference of the wire. Coiling an electrically charged wire allows the density of the magnetic flux produced by this configuration to concentrate at the center of the coil of wire.
Wrapping a strand of electrical conductor, such as a length of copper wire, around a conduit, such as section of pipe, and connecting each end of the electrical conductor to the positive terminal and the negative terminal of a supply of electrical power is a common method of making an electromagnet. A basic principal of electromagnetic generation states the strength of the magnetic field provided by a device is determined by multiplying on the number of turns of a coil of wire by the constant current, or amperage, supplied to the coil. This calculation of wire turns and amperage is commonly referred to as the amp-turns of the device. The gauss provided by an electromagnet is directly proportional to the number of amp-turns. The magnetic field generated by the electrically charged coil may be strengthened by increasing the number of turns of wire around a conduit, increasing the voltage and current supplied to the coil or increasing both the number of turns and the intensity of the electrical supply. The strength of an electromagnetic field may be increased or decreased by adjusting the amperage supplied to the coil of wire in applications where periodic variations of the magnetic flux may be desired to provide desired fluid treatment.
In addition to creating an electromagnetic field, this configuration of coiled electrically charged wire typically generates heat. Heat generation has been a major limitation in developing the maximum electromagnetic field strength of prior art electromagnet devices. For example, heat generated by an electrically charged wire increases resistance within the coil, resulting in a drop in the flow of current through the device and diminishing the amp-turn, or gauss, of the electromagnet.
Excessive heat generation typically leads to the failure of prior art electromagnet devices when heat retention within the coiled wire is sufficient to cause sections of the wire to melt and come in contact with each other. The resulting short circuit reduces the efficiency of the device due to fewer amp turns being in effect. Heat may also cause the coil of wire to completely part and create an open circuit in the continuous coil of wire so that no electromagnetic field is generated. Thus, the generation and retention of heat typically impedes the flow of electrical current through the wire coil of prior art electromagnet devices and makes them less effective, or totally useless, in fluid treatment until the continuity in the entire electrical circuit can be restored.
In some instances, a protective housing may be utilized to shield the coiled wire from cuts, abrasions or other damage. However, encasing coiled layers of wire within a protective housing typically promotes the retention of heat generated by the coil of electrically charged wire. To disperse heat generated by such devices, protective housings of many prior art electromagnetic field generators are typically filled with mineral oil, graphite or other materials to assist in the dissipation of the heat and to prolong the life of the device. The addition of oil or other heat dispersing materials adds a significant amount of weight to these electromagnetic field generators, making them difficult to handle and install. Further, the potential of oil or other heat dispersing materials leaking from such devices and contaminating the environment, along with other maintenance issues, poses additional problems for end users.
Heat dissipation is critical to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of electromagnetic filed generators. Heat generated by an internal layer of a wire coil contiguous with a conduit may radiate through the conduit and into a fluid flowing through it. Heat generated by the outer layer of the wire coil may dissipate into the atmosphere if the device is used in an open-air configuration or transferred through heat dispersing materials to the enclosure and then into the atmosphere if a device is encased within a protective housing. However, the inability of prior art devices to transfer and dissipate heat generated by their internal layers of wire coils typically results in heat related open circuits or short circuits. Thus, prior art devices are typically limited in the number of layers of coiled wire that may be utilized to produce an electromagnetic field generator due to the generation and retention of heat within the layers of wire.
The instant invention provides a method and apparatus for use in the extraction of deposits such as scale, corrosion, paraffin, asphaltene and other contaminants from within conduits utilized in the transmission of fluid columns wherein a feedstock may be directed to pass through an air-cooled electromagnetic field generator. By subjecting a feedstock to an intense magnetic field, substances such as silica, calcium carbonate, paraffin or asphaltenes tend to remain in suspension. The instant invention further provides improved fluid treatment in the separation of oil and water, thereby increasing the efficiency of oil/water separation equipment.
Absent magnetic treatment, many substances are typically absorbed into ions that collect as adhesive-like substances within a fluid column and form deposits along the surface of the internal boundary walls of conduits utilized to transport a fluid. While a magnetic field does not remove contaminants from a fluid column, organic and inorganic substances that may be dissolved and suspended within a fluid column, such as paraffin, asphaltene, silica or calcium, typically become non-adhesive and remain in suspension rather than form scale deposits. Inducing a similar charge to elements carried within a fluid column tends to decrease their incidence of surface contact, with the induced polarization resulting in similarly charged ions within a feedstock continuously repelling each other.
Treatment by the electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention typically results in components carried within a fluid column remaining in suspension and prevents their accumulation as deposits on inner surfaces of conduits and on equipment utilized to transfer a fluid through a system. In many instances, the induced polarization of substances within a fluid column results in the re-polarization of other substances within a piping system that may have previously settled and formed scale or other types of deposits. Re-polarization of scale and other deposits allows many substances to be suspended within a fluid column and restores flow through the piping system and its transmission equipment. In piping systems where chemical treatment may be used for scale prevention, electromagnet treatment may result in a substantial reduction, or total elimination, of chemical additives to the system. Therefore, magnetic treatment of fluid columns may be of benefit in the reduction and elimination of scale and other types of deposits within conduits and on equipment utilized to propel a fluid through a system.
Magnetic treatment may also be used to accelerate the separation of oil and water. Environmental regulations require entities generating contaminated fluid columns as part of a manufacturing process or an incidental spill or leak with the containment, treatment and elimination of pollutants from a fluid column prior to discharging a treated effluent into the environment. Numerous treatment systems are currently utilized to treat water run-off from facility operations, industrial wastewater, oilfield production water and water generated during remediation of contaminated soil. While a fundamental use of magnetic treatment has been to dislodge and eliminate scale and other deposits from a piping system, electromagnetic forces provided by the instant invention may be utilized to enhance the efficiency of oil/water separation equipment in removing free-floating oil.
By utilizing the instant invention to influence the forces creating the oil/water mixture and break oil/water emulsions prior to passing a hydrocarbon-contaminated feed stream through a separation device, hydrocarbon contaminants, such as oil, may precipitate and be removed from a previously stable suspension or emulsion.
This invention generally relates to the treatment of fluid columns with emphasis on the prevention of contaminant deposition and the removal of built-up deposits from within the interior walls of a conduit. While magnetic treatment of a feed stream typically accelerates oil/water separation, other contaminants, such as suspended solids, typically remain within a fluid column. If a fluid column requires additional remedial action prior to its discharge into the environment, a feed stream may be further treated to extract a variety of dissolved and suspended contaminants and provide an effluent suitable for discharge. One method of contaminant separation requires passing a fluid column through electrically charged electrodes to create a stable flocculate that can be filtered to remove contaminants from the feed stream. When used in concert, the synergy of the electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention and this contaminant separation method significantly enhance the performance of systems utilized to remove contaminants from fluid columns.
The electromagnetic field generator of the instant method may be formed by encircling a segment of a length of conduit defined by a fluid impervious boundary wall with an inner surface and an outer surface and having inlet and outlet ports, such as a section of pipe, with a continuous strand of an electrical conductor, such as copper wire, to form an initial layer of coiled wire. Once the required number of wire coils have been placed around a section of conduit to achieve the desired length of the internal layer of the continuous coil of wire, air-cooling ducts extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conduit may be created by placing a pattern of spacers, such as fiberglass strips, on top of the first coil of wire, the spacers being arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conduit and equidistant from one another. The spacers are typically of a length identical to that of the initial layer of coiled wire wrapped around the conduit.
A second layer of the continuous wire coil may then be wrapped around the outer facing surface of the spacers resting atop the first layer of the wire coil so that the pattern of spacers separates the coaxially disposed, radially spaced layers of the continuous wire coil and forms a system of open-air cooling ducts between the layers of the coiled wire. Additional layers of the continuous coil of wire, spacers or both may be added to achieve the desired configuration of a device.
In the preferred embodiment of the instant invention, the continuous wire coil is formed by encircling a segment of a length of conduit with layers of an electrical conductor, said electrical conductor comprising a continuous strand of an electrical conducting material having a first conductor lead and a second conductor lead, with each turn of the continuous strand of electrical conductor being contiguous with the adjacent turn of electrical conductor. While an uninterrupted layer of coiled wire is preferred, mechanical winding of an electrical conducting material may result in small gaps or openings between adjacent turns of the continuous wire coil. Such gaps serve no beneficial purpose and may in fact result in so-called hot spots within the continuous coil of wire and impede its performance. Uninterrupted layers of a continuously coiled electrical conducting material, with each turn of the electrical conducting material being contiguous with its adjacent turn, provide the most efficient means of generating the electromagnetic field of the instant invention.
The electromagnetic field strength provided by the instant invention may be increased by concentrating the magnetic flux of each layer of coiled wire as near the center of the conduit as possible. Once the desired length of a continuous wire coil has been wound contiguous with the outer wall of the conduit, a second layer of the continuous wire coil having a similar length to the initial layer may be placed atop the first coil of wire. A pattern of spacers may be placed atop the second layer of the coil of wire in a substantially parallel orientation to the longitudinal axis of the conduit, with a third layer of wire placed on top of the outer facing surface of the spacers. The addition of the third layer of the continuous wire coil encircling the pattern of spacers forms a system of open-air cooling ducts substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conduit. Subsequent layers of spacers and wire coils may be added to provide additional layers of coaxially disposed, radially spaced wire coils and open-air ducts.
In many instances it may be advantageous to include a thin sheet of a non-conductive material, such as a synthetic film commonly available under the trade name of Nomex, to separate adjacent layers of the continuous wire coil and enhance the mechanical stability of the coiled wire winding. A layer of Nomex may also be placed between a layer of coiled wire and the spacers utilized to form the open-air ducts. Additional mechanical stability may further be provided by adding an outer layer of a structural stabilizing material, such as fiberglass, to the final configuration of layered wire, stabilizing material and spacers surrounding the conduit. This arrangement results in coaxially disposed, uninterrupted layers of a continuous coil of wire radially spaced apart from one another by a pattern of spacers and provides for cooling of all layers of the wire coil by promoting air passage through a system of open-air cooling ducts that transfer heat generated by the electrically charged wire to the atmosphere.
To generate an electromagnetic field, a first conductor lead of the continuous coil of wire may be connected to the positive terminal of a power supply and a second conductor lead of the continuous wire coil may be connected to the negative terminal of the power supply. When voltage and current are applied to the continuous coil of wire, the electromagnetic field generated by the energized wire is concentrated within the inner surface of the fluid impervious boundary wall of the conduit so that a fluid column directed to flow through the conduit may receive electromagnetic treatment as it passes through the device.
Heat generated by the electrically charged wire coils of the instant invention is transferred to the air within the ducts. When utilized in a vertical orientation, hot air within the ducts rises through the cavities created by the pattern of spacers disposed between the layers of wire and to the openings between the layers of wire at the top of the electromagnetic unit where it then dissipates into the atmosphere. Cooler ambient air is drawn into the ducts at the bottom of the unit to replace the rising hot air, creating a chimney effect that provides for the continuous flow of air through the device and facilitates the transfer of heat from the wire coil to the air within the ducts and then into the atmosphere. Reducing heat within the coil of wire, which in turn reduces resistance within the coil, allows more current to flow through the electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention. Therefore, increasing the amount of current flowing through the wire coil results in an increase in the number of amp-turns of the device. The equation I=V/R demonstrates this. In any fractional equation, decreasing the denominator while the numerator remains constant results in an increase in the quotient. In the equation I=V/R, I represent electrical current, V represents voltage and R represents resistance. By reducing heat retention, and therefore resistance, within the continuous coil of wire while the voltage remains constant, the resulting increase in current provides for increased amp-turns, and therefore gauss strength, of the unit.
The system of air-cooling ducts that provides a means of dissipating heat generated by the coaxially disposed, radially spaced layers of coiled wire allows additional layers of wire to be incorporated in the device, resulting in increased amp-turns. The transfer of heat from the wire coil to the atmosphere via the chimney effect of air flowing through the system of open-air channels reduces resistance within the device. Reduced resistance allows more current to flow through the unit and results in increased amp-turns of the device. Thus, an electromagnetic field generator having a series of open-air ducts between its layers of wire will produce greater gauss strength than a similarly configured device lacking air-cooling ducts due to the reduced resistance within the coil of wire of the air-cooled unit allowing increased current to drive the unit.
A number of variables may be used to optimize such units. For example, the size and shape of the wire used to form the wire winding that encircles a segment of the conduit, the proximity of each successive wrap of wire to the adjacent wrap of wire forming the continuous wire winding, the length of the winding along the surface of the conduit and the number of layers of wire windings forming the electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention determine the total number of windings of the device.
These factors, along with output capacity of the power supply utilized to provide the desired amount of current through the continuous wire coil determine the total amp-turns, and consequently the gauss strength, of the device. Other variables include the size, shape and composition of the materials comprising the various components of the device, such as the conduit, the spacers and the protective housing, if included.
While many types of materials may be utilized to provide an enclosure for the electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention, non-magnetic, non-corrosive materials, such as aluminum, that possess heat transfer properties are preferred to shelter the layered coils of wire from cuts, abrasions, dents, exposure to ultraviolet sunlight or other types of damage that may otherwise affect the structural integrity of the device or impair its performance. The magnetic field generator may be sealed within a solid-bodied enclosure or the housing may include a pattern of perforations that allow for flow-through ventilation of the unit. When a device is enclosed within a solid-bodied housing and mounted in a vertical orientation, the convection of the air within the housing and its constant contact with the enclosure provides for the transfer and dissipation of the heat generated by the coaxially disposed, radially spaced layers of electrically charged wire. Heat transferred to the air rising through the system of open-air cooling ducts between the layers of wire is transferred to the body of the enclosure as the hot air contacts the upper end of the housing. Cooler air at the bottom of the enclosure is then drawn into the ducts to replace the rising hot air. This convection of the air confined within the enclosure and circulating through the open-air ducts transfers heat from the continuous coil of wire to the enclosure where it may then radiate from the protective housing and dissipate into the atmosphere.
The electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention provides an air-cooled, environmentally friendly device capable of inducing a similar ionic charge to dissolved and suspended substances within a fluid column to cause contaminants within a fluid column to become non-adhesive and inhibit their accumulation as deposits within conduits and on surfaces of equipment utilized in the transmission of the fluid. The electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention may also be utilized to break oil/water emulsions and improve the efficiency of oil/water separation equipment and eliminate biological contaminants, such as bacteria. When compared to prior art devices, the electromagnetic field generator of the instant invention weighs less, generates less heat, requires less electrical current and generates a greater gauss strength than similarly sized prior art devices.